Crooked House by Agatha Christie: Reviewed by Sam W.

Crooked House begins by introducing our main character and detective, Charles. He is a young man that fell in love with Sophie Leonide, but, due to unfortunate circumstances, they cannot marry. Now, years later, Sophie’s grandfather has been murdered by poisonous injection. Charles, along with his police officer father and an investigator, troops to the Leonides’ house to solve the crime. However, he discovers that Sophie’s relatives are all crooked in some way and they all live together in a crooked house.

As Charles goes around the Crooked House, he discovers that all the suspects seem to have a reason and are capable of murdering poor Aristide Leonide. Everyone knew that the medicine could be dangerous and fatal. Who could it be? Everyone assumes it must be Brenda, the spoiled wife of Aristide. She could want all his riches to herself, and get her old husband out of the way. There is a possibility that it is Laurence, the tutor of the youngest Leonides, Eustace and Josephine. Rumor has it that Laurence is in love with Aristide’s (now) widow and would like to have Brenda all to himself. But maybe it is Roger, the seemingly harmless son of Mr. Leonide who has a terrible temper. Roger might have argued with Aristide Leonide about Roger’s business and taken drastic measures to win it. Yet another murder suspect is Magda, the daughter of the murdered man. Magda is a very dramatic lady who stars in many plays and perhaps wishes to add some drama to her life with a murder. She also wants her play to go public, but her father, Aristide, will not let her. The young Leonides, Josephine and Eustace, both have physical and mental problems. Eustace suffers from polio and has temper issues and Josephine is obsessed with detective novels and writes everything down in her “detective” notebook.

The plot thickens as detectives discover another murder in the same crooked house: a nanny, who drank poisoned hot cocoa that was meant for Josephine. Poor Josephine’s murder is attempted once again, as the clever crook knocks a block of marble on her head but leaves Josephine harmed, but not quite dead. They realize that the murderer is still among them. In another twist, Charles discovers that Aristide’s will left all his possessions to Sophie as he thought that she was the only one responsible enough. The whole Leonide family goes into rage. Another death strikes when Josephine and her aunt drive off a cliff, instantly killing both. As the book draws to a close, there is a shocking discovery that reveals all about the murderer, and surprises all, including the reader.